In general, fitness facilities and clubs (such as Gold's Gym, Bally's, 24-Hour Fitness, etc.) obtain service information regarding their fitness equipment units (FEUs) via one of two methods. In the older method, when an FEU becomes inoperative, a patron typically alerts a manager or other personnel at the particular fitness facility. The manager then inspects the unit and determines whether a telephone call to a service provider is warranted. If so, the provider sends a serviceperson to the facility to diagnose and repair the problem. The unit is then put back in operation. The information regarding each of these events is sometimes manually tracked by the facility and/or the service provider.
In the second method, each FEU is equipped with a display screen and various internal monitoring components. The monitoring components determine when a problem exists within the FEU. The components then either report this information in the form of an error code displayed on the unit's screen or simply registers the problem on an internal interface board. When a particular FEU becomes inoperative, the patron alerts a facility employee of the problem. The employee then goes to the unit to determine whether a telephone call to the service provider is needed. If so, the provider sends a serviceperson to the facility to diagnose and fix the problem. The FEU is then put back in operation. As above, the information regarding each of these events is sometimes manually tracked by the facility and/or the service provider.
As will be appreciated, the current situation is labor intensive, costly, time-consuming, error-prone, and inefficient. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, the current system gives patrons a negative impression of the fitness facility because the patron is aware of a broken FEU. It also makes patrons irritated in that they have to either spend time reporting a broken unit or forego reporting it and feel guilty or disgusted. Moreover, the patron may have to wait until another similar FEU is available for use. Another disadvantage to the above system is that the type and frequency of problems experienced by a particular FEU is generally lost. This information has use in determining warranty rights and responsibilities as well as making FEU replacement decisions. In currently warranty reporting, the facility manager generally relies on anecdote and unsubstantiated impressions of the performance of a particular FEU.
Thus, a need exists for a more efficient service tracking and alerting system for FEUs at fitness facilities. A more ideal system would be capable of not only tracking such problem events, but also of immediately alerting at least the facility personnel when a problem has arisen. This way, the facility personnel can immediately post an “Out of Service” sign on the machine, and the patron will not have to become involved.